St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis presented the alternative plan, which calls for four lanes from Spartan Drive to Eden Isles Boulevard and two lanes from Eden Isles Boulevard south to the lake, to a crowd that filled the tables in the Salmen High School cafeteria.

Many residents favored the four-lane proposal, saying the parish needed to look to the future and use the money it has now to expand the capacity on the road and to increase safety.

Thomas Thompson, who lives in Eden Isles, said the widening plan affects more people than were in the room Thursday night, and urged Davis and the planners to design the project accordingly.

"You're pandering to a few people," he said. "It should be an independent decision based on the facts and not emotion."

Amanda Saavedra, who owns Shaq's Discount and a mini-storage facility on Pontchartrain Drive, reminded Davis that many people favored a three-lane road -- one lane in each direction and a center turning lane -- at the first meeting to discuss the widening in October.

Davis said people refer to the center-lane option as the "suicide lane," and that the state highway department doesn't allow center lanes anymore for safety reasons. He noted that people, especially in Louisiana, tend to drive in the center lane where people are trying to turn.

No one really loved the four lane-two lane idea, fearing that bottlenecks would occur at Eden Isles Boulevard as the lane narrows from four lanes to two. People raised similar concerns at the October meeting, worrying that a four-lane road would cause traffic tie-ups leading to the two-lane U.S. 11 bridge.

Scott Threlkeld/The Times-Picayune archiveSt. Tammany Parish President Kevin DavisDavis said he and the planners created the new plan in part because many people had complained about businesses losing some parking spaces that are located in the public right of way. The new plan provides between 25 and 40 feet of usable space between the property lines and the highway.

Both the new and old plans call for a 20-foot median running the length of the road, an 8-foot shoulder on either side and an 8-foot sidewalk along the east side. The sidewalk can accommodate pedestrians and bicycles, said Shelby LaSalle from Krebs, LaSalle, LeMieux, the engineering consultant on the project.

A few people voiced concern about the sidewalk's location, citing pedestrian safety issues. Randy Brown, who lives on Moonraker Island, said it would make more sense to put the sidewalk on the other side of the street so that people wouldn't have to worry about walking on a path where cars would constantly be turning to enter businesses.

Davis said the sidewalk is on the east side to provide better connectivity to the surrounding neighborhoods. He also said the entire plan is still a work in progress and all comments will be considered before a final design is implemented.

The project is being financed with federal money.

The Regional Planning Commission, which is a partner with the parish and the state on the project, has the money to design the project and begin construction, though the agency is seeking additional earmarks for its completion.

The four-lane road, as initially conceived, would cost about $21 million, while the new plan would cost less than $16 million.